


Social Distancing

by RealDaveofDaves



Series: The Maze of Moments - A Clay and Justin Story [19]
Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Brotherly Love, Brothers, College, Current Events, Nightmares, Running, fraternity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:42:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24592483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RealDaveofDaves/pseuds/RealDaveofDaves
Summary: In which Clay and Keaton are stuck in the dorm for two weeks during the global pandemic...
Relationships: Clay Jensen & Justin Foley, Clay Jensen & Original Male Character, Sheri Holland/Clay Jensen
Series: The Maze of Moments - A Clay and Justin Story [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1098663
Comments: 12
Kudos: 36





	Social Distancing

**Author's Note:**

> Boy, do we need something light and fluffy, no? This story takes place in the Future!Mazeverse, so you haven't missed anything!
> 
> Also, you'll see how Ye Writer plans to handle the ending of Season Four in my stories. "That" ending.

_"It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine."_

-from "It's The End of the World," by R.E.M.

**Day One**

The students, faculty and staff of the University of California San Diego received an update on March 16. The world was changing, rapidly, as the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, had been declared a global pandemic and cases were now being reported across the United States. The message from the Chancellor read in part:

_"In order to lower the density on campus, we are strongly urging students who can safely leave to do so as soon as feasible, but no later than March 29. This will allow the remaining students who are not able to leave campus the recommended space for effective social distancing."_

And therein lay the problem for Clay Jensen and Keaton Williams, his roommate and "big brother" in Sigma Phi Epsilon. While the majority of students were in the process of packing up and heading home to wait out the crisis and continue their education online, several found themselves in a position where they could not leave for a variety of reasons. Some were without access to stable housing. Some came from food insecure households, and their return might put a burden on an already taxed situation. Still others could not relocate for their own personal safety because of their sexual or gender identity. They were all permitted to stay in campus housing, where they would be in a far better position than anywhere else.

Then there was the situation that a handful found themselves in, such as Clay and Keaton, and as they now explained via Facetime to Matt and Lainie.

"Wait..say all that again? You can't come home yet because...what happened?" Matt asked, a little bewildered. Sanderson University had made the decision to close and began the transition to online teaching the week prior, ahead of the larger state system by a couple of days. This meant a crash course in using Zoom for lectures and meetings, with a little help from Justin, who proved himself to be an apt tutor in such matters.

Clay sighed as he began again. "Okay, one more time. So, we had a...function...at the Sig Ep house last week..."

Hearing this from the kitchen counter, Justin dropped a dishtowel, and wiping his hands off on his jeans, came over to the table quickly and looked at his brother and new friend on the computer screen from behind his parents. "They had a party," he grinned.

Keaton smirked right back at him from his side of the laptop. "Dude, it was _sick_."

"I want details."

"Justin," Lainie rolled her eyes with a sigh, "time and place. Go on, Clay."

"Anyway. So there were a bunch of people at this...function..."

"Party," Justin interrupted.

"Party," Keaton agreed.

"Oh my God, will you two shut up? Well a couple of days later, a few people who were there started to feel a little sick. Nothing major, slight temperatures, coughing. Well, residence life and the university hospital recommended that everyone at the...function...quarantine for two weeks. So, I can't come home yet."

"Who was it? Anyone I met?" Justin asked.

"We think it started with Eric, he was feeling kinda bad before the party," Keaton replied.

"Straight Eric or Gay Eric?"

It was Clay's turn to roll his eyes and shake his head. "It was a function, and it was Straight Eric. Maybe. Look, the important thing is, this is all a precaution, that's all. I feel fine, Keaton feels fine, we're both fine."

"Are you sure? What are you going to do about food? Will they not even let you out of your room? Honey, what if you become ill, are they going to evacuate you?" Lainie immediately went into mom mode, asking these questions one after the other, rapidly.

"Mrs. J, it's all good," Keaton answered. "They're going to come and check our temperatures every day, food service is bringing meals to the lobby so we don't starve. And we can go outside as long as we wear masks and stay on the campus."

"And stay away from others. But this place is emptying out pretty fast, so I don't think that'll be a huge problem," Clay added. "Mom, we'll be all right. It's just two weeks, no big deal."

"Well...if you need anything, you get in touch with us right away and we'll see what we can do. Keaton, do your parents know?"

"Talked to them before you all, Dr. J."

"Clay, I want you to do this with us once a day until you leave. Maybe twice a day?" Lainie was in mom mode again. Still.

"Mom, we're...okay, fine. I'll check in once a day."

"Maybe twice? And, text. Yes, text throughout the day."

"Lane, once a day will be fine for now unless something changes. Why don't you Facetime or Zoom with us and Keaton's parents over dinner each night boys?"

"Sounds good, Dad." Keaton nodded in agreement.

"You sure you're gonna be alright bro? Not gonna go stir-crazy?"

"JJ, I'm about half an introvert as it is..."

Keaton looked at his "little brother" incredulously. " _Half_?"

"What?"

"You wanna go into how much it takes me to get you to come to these "functions" to begin with?"

"You shoulda seen him in high school, man."

"Hey! I got better. And I joined Sig Ep, didn't I?"

"A fact which never ceases to amaze me. Well, stay healthy, Dumbass. Don't bring home the plague or anything."

"I'll try not to, Shithead. We'll be fine, guys, seriously. It's only two weeks. Love you guys, talk to you soon."

* * *

After family had been notified and informed, Clay spent the rest of Day One checking in with a few other members of the Gang, making sure they were safe and healthy, and reassuring them that he and Keaton were as well. Sheri Holland, quite naturally, was first.

"They asked us to move out today also," she explained as she was packing clothes. "I should check out later this afternoon and then I'm going to head home. I'm sorry you can't be there yet!"

"Yeah, that makes two of us, this kinda sucks."

"You'll check in a lot though, right?"

"Of course!"

"Good, you'd better, mister! Otherwise, I may have to drive there myself and..." Sheri paused mid-sentence, and she seemed to be looking past the image of Clay on her laptop.

"Drive here yourself and....what?" he asked, confused.

"Um. What? What was I saying? Oh, right, drive...myself..." She paused again.

Clay, now more confused, tilted his head. "What's wrong? What're you looking at?" Turning around in his desk chair, he saw that Keaton, who had finished taking a shower, was now standing behind him near his own desk. He had put workout shorts on, and was drying his hair, vigorously rubbing a towel on top of his head.

Keaton. Who was an exercise science and physical therapy double major.

And in very good shape.

Like, ridiculously good shape.

And who was standing there shirtless.

"Hi Sheri," he stopped and greeted her. "How's our Chapter Sweetheart from another school doing?"

"Oh...I'm fine. Like...real...fine...."

Clay turned back. "Hey now," he laughed.

"Sorry!"

Keaton put the towel around his shoulders and ran his hands through his hair. "What? What's she sorry about?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all!" Sheri replied.

"Um...okay?" Keaton shrugged and walked out of view, as Clay and Sheri wrapped up their conversation and said their "I love yous" to one another.

Next up was Alex, who because of the situation was temporarily staying with Cyrus. From their position on the couch, they seemed a little distracted as Clay was talking to them. It was almost as if they were trying to look past and behind him.

"...so after I get home, as long as we're all healthy, maybe we can...what? What's wrong?"

Alex blinked and his head snapped up. "Nothing!"

As he could see that Alex was blushing a little, and Cyrus had that "I'm up to no good" smirk, Clay turned in his chair again, and then back to his laptop.

"Okay, seriously?"

"What?" Keaton looked up. Now, it was onto his laundry that had been piling up for a couple of days. It was all washed, mind you, but some of it still needed to be folded and ready to be packed up. He was sitting on his desk and folding and balling up a pair of socks, while still shirtless. "Hi, guys. You two okay?"

"They're fine. And you're giving them quite the show."

"Oh, my bad. I mean, I can put a shirt on or whatever..."

"NO!" Alex and Cyrus replied simultaneously. "Uh...I mean...he doesn't have to on our account or anything," Cyrus added helpfully.

"You two are ridiculous. Anyway! I want to check in with everyone pretty regularly. And Keaton was right to ask, how are you?"

Alex shrugged. "I mean, we're fine. My parents are out in this, which is why I'm bunking over here for a little bit, and I'm kinda worried about them...my mom, especially. She's already starting to work longer hours, and I hate it. I'm...kinda scared about it, to be honest." Hearing this, Cyrus took Alex's hand in his and gave him a smile.

"Yeah, I get that. Well, she's a strong, smart lady. She'll be okay, Alex, don't get upset or anything."

"I'll try, but don't be surprised if I call and need to vent."

"Anytime, you know that."

"Cool. Thanks, Clay."

Cyrus got up from the couch and walked out of screen, but his voice could still be heard. "Ya know what, I want some spray cheese and crackers. 'Lex, you want some?"

Alex's jaw dropped. " _Baby_. No! Are you okay? Mentally? Do you need to talk to Clay?"

"Wait, what?" Clay did a little double take, as from behind him, Keaton - who was now working on another pair of socks - came back over and watched.

"No, I'm fine. I just want some spray cheese and crackers."

" _No_. Nobody wants spray cheese....are you sure you're...it'll be okay! I'm here! Clay, I better go, sounds like my other half is having a culinary crisis."

"Yeah....talk to you later...?"

As Clay disconnected, he sat back a little in his chair.

"I like spray cheese," Keaton said, helpfully.

"Yeah, me too."

* * *

**Day Five**

The first several days went by fine, as Clay and Keaton settled into the routine of the new normal. Each morning at eight, and then that evening at nine, a resident assistant and nurse from the university hospital came to their door to take their temperatures and assess their overall health. Three times a day, they would head downstairs to the lobby of their building to get food that had been prepared by dining services, and they had even gotten used to wearing masks when not in their room, as they were able to walk around campus.

On Day Five, Keaton insisted that Clay play Xbox with him and, remotely, Justin, who was in the Fortress of Solitude (or, Outhouse, as he was wont to call it) back in Crestmont. It wasn't that Clay hated playing games, far from it. But, he was not exactly a fan of _Call of Duty_ , and he found himself more often than not being killed by one of his two opponents. This was frustrating enough, but the conversation Keaton and Justin had online through it all, as gamers do, was bordering on the ridiculous, and was starting to get on Clay's last good nerve.

"Dude," Justin asked and Clay heard through his headphones, "you still need to tell me about that party, man."

A look that bordered between revulsion and terror came over Clay's face. "No. Oh, no. Keaton...."

"What? Clay, don't tell me you did something!"

"No, JJ, I didn't! I'm a faithful boyfriend, you know that, Jesus!"

"He's a good boy, Justin. I think our little bro here is referring to me having a little fun with this girl I've been seeing in one of the bathrooms at the house."

"Yes. That I happened to walk in on," Clay added to the story.

"Oh, shit!" Justin laughed from the other end.

"Justin, she's _so_ hot! And the things she can do with her..."

Clay interrupted. "Okay, let's not go down memory lane, please! Bad enough I had to see that."

As Justin laughed louder, Clay brought a hand up and scratched his cheek. "Actually, having been in that house, we should be immune from coronavirus."

"It's not that bad!"

"It's beyond disgusting at times! That one spot on the floor in the hall is always sticky, the downstairs toilet works when it feels like it, and there's this...weird rattling noise that comes from the walls."

"I kinda like that noise, it adds charm to the house."

"I really need to see this place next time I'm there," Justin said. "I'll make sure Mom doesn't come in or anything, she'll probably start to cry."

The match continued, and as it did, Justin asked Keaton a question. "Hey, Keaton? You ever thought about how the first person of the human race discovered milk?"

Keaton laughed out loud. "What the fuck?"

"He's asked this before. Remind me to tell you about the conversation he had with Alex our junior year."

"Hey, I'm serious!"

Keaton thought for a moment, then broke out into a big grin. "Aw, they woulda sucked on the titty!"

"Oh my God," Clay groaned as his "big brothers" laughed.

"Hey, Justin!"

"S'up?"

"Dude, bologna is just...like, hot dog pancakes. Change my mind."

"Wait...oh my God!"

"Dear _Lord!_ " Clay rolled his eyes.

"What, you know I'm right!"

And on it went, with a series of random facts or statements that Keaton and Justin kept coming up with. Partly for their own entertainment, but mostly to annoy Clay:

"Didja ever notice you never see advertisements for microwaves?"

"Dogs actually won the space race."

"Every picture of you is younger than you."

"Cheese is just a loaf of milk."

"Did Adam and Eve have bellybuttons?

"All right, that's it!" Clay exclaimed. "I don't know the answers to any of those things, and the Adam and Eve one is probably going to keep me up at night! What I _do_ know is that there are 171,476 words in the English language, and I cannot think of a combination of those words right now that matches my desire to stand up and yeet this chair at you!"

"Did...did my brother just use the word 'yeet'?" Justin asked, shocked.

"He did! I'm so proud!"

Meanwhile, Clay's character in the game was killed. Again.

* * *

**Night Ten/Day Eleven**

The days blended into one another, boredom set in, and belongings were slowly but surely being packed up. In all though, and months later as they looked back at at, it really hadn't been all that terrible of an experience. As Clay had promised, they checked in on a daily basis, other members of the Gang and the Subs were contacted (and here the only other cause for concern was Tony, because Caleb had to close the gym as per state mandate, meaning their income was now halved), as were the Subs. Camden was doing fine, if a little bored, and Charlie was...being Charlie, when it came right down to it. He had taken the time in quarantine to try a few new cookie recipes, which he insisted on sharing with everyone as soon as they were together. There had even been a brief meeting of all of them except for Ani, who remained with her mother in Oakland - out on the street in front of Clay's house, properly distanced and under the watchful eye of Lainie. Justin held up his phone so everyone could say hi.

That was when the homesickness hit. Along with an old fear.

It was a nightmare he had had a few times, on and off, but this was the first recurrence of it since starting college. As nightmares go - and he was an unfortunate expert, of either his own or a at times Justin's - this one was the one he hated the most, because it was the worst. Maybe it was because of the pandemic. Maybe it was because he was missing everyone, and Justin especially. Whatever the reason, it had crept back through the shadows of his subconscious, where even his Psyche, his secret and trusted "friend" could not help.

It was just after three in the morning when Clay sat straight up in bed with a start, drenched in sweat and tears pooling in his eyes, gasping for breath. Looking around in the darkness of the room, he saw that Keaton was sound asleep. While one shaky hand reached up to wipe his eyes, the other fumbled behind him on the desk for his phone. Quietly, he got out of bed and walked out of the room, padding down the hall of the nearly empty dormitory floor to the study lounge. Not bothering to turn on the light, he went to the furthest corner of the room away from the door, slumped against the wall, and slid down onto the floor, and sniveling, unlocked his phone.

After three rings, Justin answered.

"Hey," he said sleepily.

"H-hey," Clay sniffed, forcing a smile, his voice breaking. "Hey JJ."

"Clay, it's...late o'clock...."

"I...I know. I-I'm sorry. I just...I j-just n-needed....needed to know you were...you were okay?" A small sob caught in his throat, which Justin could clearly hear. "L-like...you...you're nu-not sick?"

Justin was now wide awake. "Yeah, I'm okay, of course. Clay, what's wrong? What happened?"

"I...I had..." Clay choked and sobbed. "I h-had th-that...nuh...nightmare...again..."

As Clay started to cry, he could hear on the other end Justin moving around, sitting up in bed, and based on a quiet expletive he had probably hit his elbow while reaching over to turn on the light. "Clay. I need to you listen to me. Okay? I'm fine. I promise I'm fine. Nothing's wrong, I swear."

Clay hunched over a little, bring his knees up to his chest as if he was trying to curl into himself. "Puh...promise?"

"I promise, Clay. Take some deep breaths. Please? For me? Try and calm down, it's alright, it's only the nightmare, bro, it's not real. Listen. I just had my physical right before all this corona shit happened, blood work and everything. Clean bill of health, man. I swear to you, I'm okay. Not even a sneeze, except for my allergies."

Blinking rapidly, Clay brought his shirt up to wipe his nose. "W-would you tell me...if...if you weren't?"

"You know I would, little brother, of course. Absolutely. I'd never keep something like that from you."

"I wanna come h-home, J-Justin."

"I know. I know you do. Hey, it's just a couple more days and then you'll be here. And we can be miserable and bored together, and you can, like, do my homework for me. Junior college shit should be a piece of cake for you, right?"

Laughing a little, Clay slowly began to settle down. "Yeah...y-yeah, okay."

"Okay, then. I promise you, I'm safe and I'm healthy. It wasn't real, it was just a nightmare. All right?"

Clay closed his eyes and sniffed again, his breath shuddering a little. "All...all right."

"You gonna be okay? Think you can get back to sleep?"

"Y-yeah. I'll-I'll try. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. B-but I had to...know."

"I get it man, don't apologize. Get some sleep, and I'll call you in the...well, later this morning."

"Okay. I love you, Justin."

"I love you, too, Clay."

After they had hung up, Justin sat in his bed, sighed, and looked down at his phone, frowning as he did so. After thinking for a minute, brought up a contact and texted:

 **Justin:** _Hey, I know you won't see this until the morning, that's cool, but I need you to do a huge favor for me today. Call me when you get up, just be discrete about it, don't let Clay know.  
_

* * *

_"Hey, Justin, what's up?"_

_"Hey, Keaton. Is he around, you in the room, or-"_

_"Nah, I'm down the hall, made up an excuse. Why, what's going on?"_

_"You need to go on a run with Clay today."_

_"I do? I mean...I guess, but I'm not exactly a cardio guy."_

_"Yeah, I get that, but this is...okay, so you know he goes to therapy and takes medication for his anxiety and depression, right?"_

_"Yeah, of course."_

_"So, all of that helps him. But, when he has a nightmare, he sort of - he shuts down. And he had one last night."_

_"He did?"_

_"Yeah, and it was a really bad one, it's like... **'the'** nightmare for him, he has this one every so often. So you've gotta get him to go on a run. He won't want to at first, but just be insistent. It'll help clear his head and get him to talk, and he'll want to talk, trust me. You might have to pull it outta him, but he will."_

_"Okay....I mean, I think he's had a few nightmares here and there, but they didn't seem....is that why he's so quiet this morning?"_

_"It's exactly why."_

_"Man. Now I feel like shit that I didn't wake up."_

_"Don't, it's okay. The bad ones, and this one especially, take a lot out of him mentally, that's why you need to take him running. It helps, trust me."_

_"You got it."_

_"Thanks, man."_

* * *

"C'mon, we're gonna go for a run." Keaton was sitting on his bed, and had bent down to tie his gym shoes. When Clay heard this, he looked up slowly from _Anna Karenina,_ which was one of his assigned readings for this quarter's literature class.

"We're what?"

Keaton looked up as he tied his other shoe. "Did I stutter? Get changed, we're going for a run. It's allowed, we can jog to the track and do a few laps."

"How are we supposed to run while wearing masks?"

"We don't. We wear them until we get outside, then take them off, no biggie. We've seen people jog during this shit, it's fine."

Clay bent his head back down to keep reading. "I don't want to."

"Yeah, you do. C'mon, it'll be fun. We need to get out of this room for awhile, get some fresh air and exercise."

"But...my running stuff and my ankle brace is all packed already, and.."

"So? Unpack it."

Marking his place in the book, Clay put it down on the bed next to him. "Keaton, I don't want to go for a..."

But, Keaton stood up and, narrowing his eyes, interrupted. "Roll number."

Clay tilted his head. "Seriously. You're pulling Fraternity rank on me. To go for a run."

Now, Keaton crossed his arms and stood there. "Let's go. Little."

Throwing his hands in the air, Clay got up from his bed. "Fine, we'll go for a run. Happy?"

"Very."

As they jogged to the track through the campus, Keaton would look over at Clay every so often and saw that his roommate/'little brother' seemed to be - concentrating wasn't the right word, no, it was more like, lost in thought, as if he was almost having it out with himself, or trying to find a way to verbalize what was on his mind. Maybe it was both. As Justin had said on the phone that morning, it looked as if he wanted to say something, but just didn't know how to start, or with what. But then he remembered that Justin also said Clay might need a little prodding.

"How'd you sleep last night?"

Clay turned his head to look at his friend. "Uh...why?"

"Just wondering. Making conversation."

"In the six months I've known you, you've never once asked me how I've slept."

"So? First time for everything, right? And you haven't answered my question."

Clay got quiet again for as he looked back at the path in front of him.

"Well?"

"Not...not so great."

"Oh." Keaton noticed that Clay was picking up his pace and he adjusted accordingly. "Why not so great?" But he didn't get an answer, only a shake of the head from Clay. Frowning, he tried again, since Justin did say to be insistent. "Why not so great, what's up?"

"I heard you the first time!"

"Okay, okay...I just asked a ques-"

"I had a bad dream, okay?"

"Oh." They continued to jog, going a little faster now, and Keaton began to regret not incorporating more cardio into his workout regimen. "What was it about?"

Clay frowned and looked at Keaton again. "What the fuck is this, man? Why are you-"

"Because, you're my little and I fucking care and want to know. Is that all right?"

Grunting and exhaling loudly, Clay looked back in front of him as they approached the track. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize, dude. All good. Just saying, I don't mind to listen is all."

"Justin was sick." They rounded a corner and ran onto the track.

"Yeah?"

"Like, really sick. He...he was keeping it from us. From _me_." Clay started to run faster.

"Okay."

"And because he got sick, he wound up in the hospital, and there wasn't anything I could do but sit next to him, and hold his hand, and watch him...watch him..." Clay was running faster still, moving ahead of Keaton.

"Clay....Clay, slow down a bit..."

" _It's all such fucking bullshit, and this stupid pandemic is making it worse, and now I can't get this out of my head and it's starting all over again and I can't fix it!"_ Clay now sprinted ahead of Keaton, who had slowed and then came to a stop, catching his breath and watching as Clay made a lap around the track. Once he had come back around, he slowed up and stood next to Keaton, panting and squinting his eyes shut.

"Now I know why they took you on the cross country team."

"Yeah." He bent over and put his hands on his knees, then straightened back up and placed his hands behind his head, interlocking his fingers as he had been taught, and started to walk slowly, Keaton coming up beside him. "Justin called you this morning, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did. He's just worried about you is all, so am I. Don't be mad."

"It's whatever."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Hasn't stopped you yet so far."

"Fair point. Okay, so is Justin sick?"

"No," Clay shook his head. "But, he's there, and I'm here, and with this virus going around, I'm just...I'm scared. For him." A few more feet, and he stopped, still panting and catching his breath, and looking off in the distance. "You know I'm actually older than he is, right?"

"Yeah, you've told me."

"Right. And I call him my 'big brother' because...well, just because. But he's my little brother for real, and before he lived with us, he did some...he made choices that were - he did things that he _had_ to do. When he was homeless. Get it?"

Keaton shrugged. "Sort of."

"I feel responsible for him. And, there's always going to be this part of me that because of those things he felt he had to do, he's going to get sick one day, and he won't tell me, and because he won't tell me, I'll be helpless. And it scares me to death."

"Clay, dude. You just told me he was fine, right? Okay, so _if_ \- very big if - he ever does get sick, for whatever reason, this corona thing or whatever? Knowing how the two of you are, don't you think you're going to be the first one to find out? And _if_ that happens, don't you think you and your folks would do whatever it would take to get him what he needs, help him get better?"

"I just hate this feeling, that I can't control....I mean, you and I could both have this virus, right now, and not know it! So could Justin!"

"And so what if we do? If we do, we go get help, right? Clay, listen. Think of the fraternity, okay? There's always going to be something that we're not going to be able to control, or maybe even fix. One of these guys - and, God knows we love them, but we do have a couple of misfits - are gonna fuck shit up. Right? So, what do we do. We face it and handle it as best we can, try and learn from it, and then we keep moving."

Clay sighed. "Yeah, I get it. I just...I don't...I don't want..."

"What?"

"I don't want anything bad to happen to him. Or you. Or, Sheri, or any of my friends, my folks, the rest of the Chapter."

"None of us want anything bad to happen to people we love, dude," Keaton placed a hand on Clay's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "But worrying about it all the time? Man, that's gonna kill you inside. The best thing any of us can do is to be there for people when they need us and to do what we can. After that? Gotta rely on someone or something bigger than us."

Clay nodded. "You sound like my therapist."

"Maybe I picked the wrong major," Keaton grinned.

"Yeah, maybe. Hey, man. I'm sorry if I was-"

"Don't worry about it, Clay. All good. Come on, let's do a couple laps. Just...don't kill me out here, I don't do this..."

* * *

**Day Fifteen**

It took several trips up and down the elevator and out to the Prius and Keaton's Jeep, made all the more challenging because of the masks they had to wear, but at last they were ready to go. Clothes, books, personal belongings, and various items acquired over two and a half quarters were now loaded up, filling back seats and trunks to the brim. Wiping an arm across a sweaty forehead, Clay pulled his mask off and shook his head. "I feel like a gangster from the 20s or something every time I have this on. Like, I should be running hooch in Chicago."

Keaton shrugged and nodded his head. "Might be a fun idea for a party in the fall. I'd be down to dress like an old school hitman or something."

Sighing, Clay turned back to look at their dormitory. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually gonna miss that room."

"Well, we'll be back in the fall. I'm putting you down as my roommate."

Clay did his half-smile. "Yeah, same."

"Then the year after that, we can live in the house together!" Keaton grinned.

"Uh...yeah, about that..."

"Oh, come on, you know you want to. I told ya, that house has charm."

"It has something, that's for sure. Keaton, about the other day."

"I told you not to worry about it."

"Yeah," Clay nodded, "I know. But, I kinda have this thing - well, several things, when it comes down to it. You know I'm kinda....that I'm fucked up in certain ways, right?"

Keaton made a face as if he was shocked to hear this information. "No! Not my little!"

"Shut up," Clay laughed. "All I'm trying to say is when I get a little too stressed out, my anxiety cranks up, and so does the depression, and I can have the nightmares, and I'm always worried about Justin, and...I'm always gonna be worried about you. Now. Too."

"Clay. We're gonna be fine. But I'm glad someone's worrying about me all the same." Keaton pulled Clay in for a hug and patted his back. "You be careful on the road, let me know when you get there."

"Will do," Clay pulled away from his big. "I'll miss you. And...thanks. For being a great big, for everything. You helped make my first year a really good one."

"I'll miss you, too, little bro, and I'm glad I could. You're welcome, man. Hey, I'm only a couple hours or so away from you, don't forget. When all this shit dies down, maybe I'll come visit, crash in the Outhouse."

"Fortress."

"That, too."

"I'd like that, yeah. Zoom tomorrow?"

"Over dinner. Gotta keep the streak going now, man."

The two vehicles pulled out of the parking lot and made their way to the interstate. The road ahead was relatively empty, owing to the lockdown across the state, and perhaps that was a metaphor for something much larger. Maybe this meant that there would have to be, out of necessity, a reset in the country, once the pandemic was over, and that the open lanes signified the way to an unknown future. Regardless of the reason, Clay kept up with Keaton until his friend and roommate got to his exit, and with a quick flash of his high beams and a honk of the horn, was on his way home.

Social distancing was difficult, but with people like Keaton Williams in his life, in addition to his parents, his girlfriend, the Gang and the Subs, and especially Justin, maybe - just maybe - it wouldn't be so intolerable after all. Pressing the touch screen on the dashboard, The 1975 came through the speakers, and Clay shifted a little in the driver's seat to get comfortable, as he thought about, like he so often did, how lucky he was. But, there was one other thought that kept coming up and it bothered him. It had for a few days now, actually....

" _Did_ Adam and Eve have bellybuttons...?" he said to himself.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Well hello, Mazers! Welcome back!
> 
> Yeah. So, I had actually started to write this one a couple weeks ago, and planned on finishing it up anyway. Then, Season Four came out. 
> 
> Ugh, oboy. Geez. That was...gah. Heartbreaking. He didn't deserve that, at all (trying to stay spoiler free here, just in case...but I mean, surely you know by now...). Anyway, needless to say, and as I posted over at Tumblr, nothing is going to change here in the Mazeverse. In fact, if you're familiar with my stories then you know that I've actually gone pretty far ahead in the future of our heroes (I refer you back to "Times Past" chapters 10-13 as proof). So, again, repeating at the risk of being a broken record, nothing changes here. He's alive and well and I have plenty of stories to tell.
> 
> I hope this one made you smile just a little, and maybe even have a happy cry. 
> 
> Coming up soon, the long overdue finish to my 2019 Christmas story, a new chapter of Times Past, and a new chapter of Maze Two, so lots and lots to come! I hope you're all staying safe and healthy, keep washing those hands! I look forward to hearing what you think about this one!
> 
> As always, I appreciate your kudos and comments! Stay tuned, Clay and JUSTIN (yeah, spoilers, but I couldn't help it....) will return, very soon!


End file.
